A 31-year-old South Yorkshire man who admitted to possessing child abuse images involving children as young as eight has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Gary Hobson, of The Lanes, Rotherham appeared at Sheffield Crown Court to be sentenced this morning, after he pleaded guilty to one count of making indecent images of children at an earlier hearing.

Presiding over the case, Judge Paul Watson QC told the court that when Hobson's offending was brought to light in August of last year, he was found to have been viewing indecent images of children over a period of between 'seven and eight months'.

He said: "You have been viewing images from Category A, the most serious category, to Category C.

"Most of which, it's right to say, were in the lower category."

The court was told that all of the images involved children, with children as young as eight pictured in the indecent images.

Indecent images of children are placed within three categories within the law, with Category A being the most serious, defined as those which show children being raped.

Judge Watson told Hobson: "The notion that this is a victimless crime needs to be addressed.

"The children who appear in these images have been subjected to abuse..to satisfy people like you."

Judge Watson continued by saying that due to the fact Hobson did not have any relevant convictions, and had taken steps to try and understand his offending he was prepared to give him a 'chance' and deal with him by way of a community order.

Judge Watson sentenced Hobson to a three-year community order, with two conditions: that he must complete a sexual offenders' treatment programme as well as a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 28-days.

Hobson was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for a period of five-years.